Palace Elite Resorts in Cancun Mexico has been with a class action lawsuit. Palace Elite Resorts has been accused of sharing data concerning ownership of timeshare purchases to other culprits as part of a scam to fool timeshare owners out of a substantial amount of money.
Mr. Frank Baker and Mrs. Kelsey of Pennsylvania claim they bought from Palace Elite two timeshares contracts. The first contract, dated 17th October 2013, consisted of 120 All Inclusive Elite Weeks plus 10 Rounds of Golf. The second agreement, dated 19th June 2015, upgraded to 140 All Inclusive Elite Weeks plus 10 Rounds of Golf.
The Bakers received a phone call in August 2017 from a sales representative named Adam Glenn, who claimed he could provide a buyer or should they prefer to keep their units, a renter.
The information Glenn had could only have been passed to him from Palace Elite. Who else, and why would anyone have or need their personal information in relation to their timeshare units. He obviously had their contact number as he had contacted them directly, he also claimed to have seen timeshare agreements, he knew the number of weeks the Bakers owned and the account numbers that Palace Elite had allocated to them.
Glenn’s sales pitch was intriguing, and the Bakers asked Glenn to email the figures. A proposal was sent as requested, the offer was to purchase 10 of the Bakers’ timeshare units for $31,700. He also requested the Bakers send him a copy of their contracts with Palace Elite. The Bakers allegedly sent these 25th August 2017.
Upon sending the contracts the Bakers were contacted by Glenn who allegedly informed the couple that he had a prospective buyer who wanted to purchase their timeshare units and that the monies had already been transferred, all the Bakers had to settle was the resorts fees for the full year before the sale could go ahead. The Bakers were assured this money would be returned upon completion of the sale.
Not doubting Glenn, the Bakers transferred the sum $9,320 to a company called Integrity Professional Closing.
After transferring the monies and the promise of a receiving a substantial amount of money from the sale of their timeshare units the Bakers felt happy and confident that they had made the right decision to sell. Unfortunately, the Bakers claim they never received any payment.
The Bakers contacted Glenn requesting an update and to inquire as to why they were having to wait so long for their money. In turn, Glenn informed them that the Mexican government required the payment of taxes on the rental/sale income, at this point the Bakers realised that something was terribly wrong, immediately demanding a refund. They were told this could take up to 60 days.
Having already been promised payment and documentation, the Bakers claim they did not receive the money nor the documentation they were promised.
According to the timeshare scam class action lawsuit, the Bakers suffered damages of more than $27,000.
No timeshare units were sold nor rented, and no contact from any party, but for Palace, was later rendered possible as all contact telephone numbers were surprisingly disconnected, the Palace Elite class action lawsuit says. Subsequently, they contacted their local police department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to report the alleged timeshare scam.
For more information regarding this article or assistance in any other timeshare related issues please contact the TCA on 01908 881058 or email: info@TimeshareConsumerAssociation.org.uk